


Going, Going, Gone

by 27dragons



Series: 27dragons' Tony Stark Bingo [13]
Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game)
Genre: Charity Auctions, Getting Together, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 01:03:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18789865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27dragons/pseuds/27dragons
Summary: Jan convinces Tony to offer up a date for her charity auction. With typical swagger, Tony warns her to be prepared for the furious bidding, but the truth is, he's more worried about the opposite reaction.(Tony Stark Bingo fill for squre R2 - Janet Van Dyne)





	Going, Going, Gone

Tony was testing out some new levels on the training arcade when Jan swept in, already frazzled-looking. “Tony!” she exclaimed. “I need your help!”

Tony looked around, wide-eyed. “Did Loki and Enchantress start dating?”

“No,” Jan said. She flopped down at his side. “Worse!”

“Did all the Hulks try to throw a party in my hot tub again?”

“Worse than _that!_ ”

Tony wracked his brains, but he really couldn’t think of anything worse. “What is it, then?”

“My party tomorrow has been _ruined!_ ”

“Uh.” Tony knew better than to suggest that wasn’t that big a deal. “What happened?”

“You’d do just _anything_ to help your best friend out, right?” Jan gave him the big eyes that meant he was definitely going to regret whatever this was.

Still, she _was_ his best friend. And she’d done plenty of crazy stuff for him over the years. “Yeah, of course.”

She flung her arms around him and let out a squeal of joy that probably made Cosmo and Lucky both lie down and cover their ears, even if they were way over on the other side of campus.

“Okay, so, uh, what is it that you’re roping me in for?”

Jan let go of him and leaned back against the safety rail, suddenly all business. “You know this party is going to be a fundraising benefit for that pet shelter that Malekith destroyed in his last attack?”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Attacking students is one thing; going after puppies and kittens is just _evil_.”

Jan beamed at him. “Well, the big fundraiser event was going to be the auction...”

“Yeah, I donated a couple of wheels of cheese from my collection.”

“...and the capper, the _pièce de résistance_ , was going to be a date with T’challa.”

“Oh no.” Tony could suddenly see where this was going, because T’challa had just been recalled to Wakanda to deal with an incursion of smugglers, and was expected to be gone for at least a couple of weeks. “Wasp, no.”

“Come on, Tony, I _neeeeeeeed_ this! The _puppies and kittens_ need this!” She gave him the eyes again. “It’s just one date!”

Tony sighed heavily. “All right.”

Jan hugged him again. “You’re the _best_ , Tony!”

“Yeah, I know. But I hope you’re prepared for the utter pandemonium that’s going to break out when everyone learns they have a chance at _all this_.” He gestured down his body.

***

Tony wasn’t actually worried that pandemonium would erupt when Jan opened bidding for the date. If he had to be entirely honest -- which he mostly avoided, if he could help it -- he was more convinced that the opposite would turn out to be true.

It was hard not to imagine it.

“ _Next up, we have a date with our very own Iron Man!”_

_Crickets chirping._

“ _Come on, guys, Tony’s my best friend, he’s totally sweet! Who’ll start the bidding?”_

 _From the audience: “I’ll bid on him_ not _asking me out!”_

_Laughter._

It was too easy to imagine, that mocking voice belonging to a different person each time his brain decided to recycle it. But he couldn’t admit it that to Jan. She’d feel bad for strong-arming him into agreeing, and try to reassure him.

And he couldn’t admit it to Steve, who wouldn’t _obviously_ gloat, because it was Steve, but it would be a point to Steve’s side in their constant, (mostly) friendly, little competition. And of course he couldn’t talk to Loki, or Natasha, or any of the professors. He slumped at the bar of Club A, watching the dancers and brooding.

“You look down.”

Startled, Tony looked around to see -- the Winter Soldier. Of course. The one person on this campus that he _absolutely_ couldn’t talk to about it, because Bucky was the one person that Tony actually kind of _wanted_ to go on a date with.

“What’s wrong? Was Crossbones maltreating your robots again? I could talk to him about it,” Bucky offered. He ground his metal fist into his human palm demonstratively, as if Tony hadn’t already guessed what Bucky had meant.

“Uh. No, no, I’m just... Sort of worried about a thing, and it’s not... not really anything that I can do anything about, so I’m just...” Tony waved at his drink.

Bucky nodded sympathetically, and slid onto the barstool next to Tony. After a moment of silence, he offered, “When the shadows crowd in around me, the light of friendship keeps them at bay.”

Tony’s eyes widened. Rhodey! He could talk to Rhodey about it. Rhodey knew what things were okay to tease Tony about, and what things were actually serious. “You’re absolutely right.”

“Yeah?” Bucky looked pleased.

“Yes,” Tony said decisively. “Thanks, Bucky. You’re a lifesaver, really.” He clapped Bucky on the arm and strode out of the club to go find Rhodey. Rhodey would help him. Rhodey always knew what to say.

***

“Tones, I don’t know what to say.”

“Rhodey! That’s not helpful! I need you to _help_ me!”

“I mean, I think you’re dead wrong about this, but I’m not going to convince you,” Rhodey said. “What do you want me to do?”

Tony bit his lip. “ _You_ could bid on me?”

Rhodey snorted. “With what, the forty-seven cents in my pocket that won’t even buy me a taco from the Food Court?”

“I’ll do the actual paying,” Tony said. “ _Obviously_. I just need to know someone’s got my back, here.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “You don’t think it would be even more pathetic, if I’m the only one who bids? ‘Cause I expect everyone would know what was going on, there.”

Which... was a point. Tony groaned and slumped back on Rhodey’s dorm bed. “I’m doomed. This is even worse than that time Shuri came over to my lab and spent the whole time mocking everything. Like it’s _my_ fault I don’t have an unlimited supply of vibranium at my disposal.”

“You’re going to be _fine_ ,” Rhodey said, patting his shoulder. “Tell you what. I’ll let you take me down to the Blasting Range and try to beat my score again.”

“You know, I designed the weapons systems on your suit,” Tony pointed out. “I’d literally be playing myself.”

“Uh-huh. Or are you just chicken?”

Oh, it was _on_.

***

Rhodey beat him at the Blasting Range, but only, Tony insisted, by the _narrowest_ of margins, and he still maintained that blowing up two targets at a time with an extra-big blast was cheating.

But diverting as it was, it didn’t actually fix his problem at all. The party arrived, and Tony found himself at the Galaxy Club, wearing his best tux and a fixed-on smile as he wandered from one little cluster of people to the next.

Jan was acting as the emcee for the auction, and doing a great job at getting people to up their bids and fork over their money. Tony’s donated cheeses brought in almost a hundred, which was awesome.

Moon Girl had donated one of Devil Dinosaur’s teeth; that went for twenty-five. Kamala had offered up a cameo appearance in her next fanfic which enjoyed surprisingly heated bidding, closing out at sixty.

And then Jan said, “And now, the one we’ve all been waiting for! I expect the bidding will get pretty crazy on this one, so let’s all just remember our manners, even if the prize _is_... a date with our very own Iron Man!” She said it cheerily, with an excited little bounce, but the rest of the room just... rustled, as everyone craned their necks to look for him.

Tony slunk a little further behind the buffet table, hoping the large potted plant on the end would conceal him.

“Come on up here, Tony,” Jan demanded, and so Tony had no choice but to paste on his best showman’s grin and swagger up to the stage.

“Hey, everyone! I know, I know, it’s almost too good to be true! But here I am, in the flesh!”

“I’ve got forty-seven cents!” Rhodey yelled, to much general laughter.

“We’re going to open the bidding at twenty,” Jan said. “Who’ll bid twenty for a night on the town with Tony?”

There was nothing but silence. For one second. Two. And then...

“How much to promise I _don’t_ ever have to be seen with him in public?” Enchantress wondered loudly. Taskmaster and Crossbones burst into raucous guffaws. Tony’s smile stayed fixed, thanks to long practice, but he wanted to melt into the floor. This was _even worse_ than he had imagined.

Jan threw a fierce glare at Amora, but before she could say anything, another voice rang out, “Tventy!”

Jan looked somewhat mollified. “Twenty!” she repeated brightly, “from Crimson Dynamo!”

Tony tried not to cringe. Of _course_ Galina had bid. She had announced at her very first arrival on campus that she planned to _marry_ him. Which was flattering, really, but... she was very much _not_ Tony’s type.

“Twenty-five,” said another voice, and Jan brightened.

“Twenty-five from our own Loki!”

Tony kept his insouciant grin pasted on his face and tried to figure out if going on another date with Loki would be better or worse than a date with Galina.

“Thirty!” returned Galina.

“Thirty-five,” announced -- oh, by Turing’s pants, was that one of the _AIM defectors_? How did they even _get in here?_ Tony was pretty sure he’d had nightmares more appealing than this.

“Forty,” Galina snapped, looking angry.

“Fifty.” That was... that was _Cap_. What the _hell?_

Next to Rogers, Bucky was looking just as shocked as Tony felt. He leaned in to whisper something to Cap, and the two of them started some kind of rapid-fire back and forth.

In the meanwhile, Galina was consulting with Vanko. After a brief moment, she straightened and triumphantly called out, “Seventy-five!”

Tony looked around hopefully. Cap and Bucky were still conferring, and had dragged Wilson into it, too. The AIM defector had disappeared, which shouldn’t be possible with that stupid yellow beekeeper suit.

“Seventy-five going once,” Jan warned.

Tony scanned the crowd hopefully. Loki caught his eye and grinned. Rhodey grimaced apologetically.

“Seventy-five going twice,” Jan said, and Tony was definitely not imagining the wide-eyed look of sympathy she was giving him. She was going to owe him _big time_ for this.

“Seventy-five going--”

“Two hundred!”

Tony’s head whipped around. So did nearly everyone else’s in the room, to look right at...

The Winter Soldier.

Tony’s jaw dropped and his heart started pounding.

Bucky met Tony’s eyes and lifted his chin, just a little, as if daring Tony to object.

Tony grinned at him, and the defiant jut of his jaw eased a little.

Galina looked _furious._

“Two hundred!” Jan crowed. “The Midtown Pet Shelter thanks you, Mr. Barnes! Going once!”

Tony couldn’t quite tear his eyes off Bucky to look at Jan and suggest she hurry it along before something _else_ interrupted.

“Going twice!”

Bucky started pushing past the other party-goers, coming closer to the stage.

“And sold!” Jan practically squealed in excitement.

The entire room broke out into applause. Tony barely heard it over the pounding in his ears as Bucky reached the stage and held out a hand to help Tony step down.

“That’s... quite the bid,” Tony said. “I mean, thanks for saving me from Galina, but--”

“Worth it,” Bucky said. He hadn’t looked away from Tony yet.

“You must really like puppies and kittens,” Tony said, a little more breathless than was probably cool.

“Who doesn’t?” Bucky agreed. He offered Tony his arm. “C’mon, kitten. Let me pay up and then we can blow this place.”

“Yeah?” Tony slipped his arm through Bucky’s. “You, uh, want that date right now, huh?”

“As soon as possible,” Bucky agreed.

Tony nodded. “Well, after paying that much, you probably deserve some special treatment.”

Bucky hesitated. “I didn’t-- I mean... I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

Wait, really? Tony pulled to a stop, fully aware that Jan was hovering nearby, eavesdropping under the pretense of waiting to collect the money from Bucky. The money, Tony just realized, that he’d probably borrowed from Steve and Sam, after Steve had bid.

And why had Cap bid on a date with Tony, anyway? It couldn’t possibly have been purely a sense of civic duty. And it was possible that Tony and Cap were friends enough these days for Steve to try to shield Tony from a date with Crimson Dynamo. But maybe... just _maybe_... he’d been trying to make a point to Bucky, of some sort.

“Call me kitten again,” Tony challenged.

Bucky brushed a metal thumb across Tony’s cheek. “Been wantin’ to ask you out for ages, kitten, but I didn’t know how. This’s probably cheatin’, I know, but--”

Tony rocked forward and up onto his toes and brushed his lips over Bucky’s cheek. “Long as we’re both in the game,” he said. “C’mon, pay Jan, and then we’ll go paint the town red.”

Bucky touched his cheek where Tony had kissed him, eyes round and still locked on Tony’s face. “You got it, kitten,” he said, a rare and beautiful smile tugging at his lips. “Red’s a good color for us.”

 


End file.
